Liar Liar
by MissMaiamai
Summary: And I'm a liar. That's what I learned the moment I left the castle. I lie to everything and everyone; it hurts and it makes me sick. FE: Fates F!Corrin
1. The Fairytale Princess

Life I remembered as a little girl; it's nothing like life. There are so many beauties, baubles, discords, and disappointments that I was never exposed to. That's what life is as a princess. You aren't aware of the calls to your name, your legacy, and how they disappoint those around you.

I heard about the idolized whispers of the children running down the street, tugging at the thick cotton of their mothers' skirts, "she's a princess. She's a princess! I wish I were a princess, mama."

I've heard about the shouts of the bar men as they stumbled around, a hand always keeping a third point of contact - any nearby object, "she's a princess. Ha! She's a princess! An prissy Nohrian rat, she is."

And I've heard my brother say, with all the humbleness of the proper son of a king, with his head perhaps a little too high, "Yes, she's a princess. But then... she's only a princess."

I used to complain when Xander said that. And then Leo would say it to me too as we got older. I always had to disagree, validate myself with all the things I had done. Xander would nod, say I'm doing well enough, and depart. But then Leo came along. Every time I stuck up my nose at something he did or said, he would too, he would debate with all his might about how I was not a true royal, and that ladies were not meant for politics.

He learned his lesson at 12. I spoke to Camilla, whom I adored at the time, and learned how to convince Jakob to do anything I wanted. (She originally implied sexual persuasion, but, being a naive 14-year-old with absolutely no knowledge of the sort, she digressed and went with the good old begging routine.) I convinced the butler - largely because he was still in training - to supplement cinnamon with cumin in a desert and give it to Leo to taste test. Leo then told me later the taste was so vile he gagged on the spot, but he held his ground and threatened to strangle me for it. After that, Camilla whopped him into shape for me.

That was the extent of my worldly experience: a bit of bickering with my siblings.

Then came the day I was thrown into a world of hurt and anguish. It kidnapped me from my throne of lies and gave me a new seat on a bed of turmoil. Often times I could not see which way pointed up, and often times I doubted if this "up" truly existed. I panicked for a long time, all the while finding the will to understand this world had love too. It didn't make sense.

Sometimes I wished I had never questioned my place. But I did. It infuriated me, killed me. Leo had been allowed outside the castle since he was 10. I had to stay here at all hours, every day, all the time. I leaned over the balconies and watched the world with wonder, watching it all go on without me.

I had had enough.

"Tell me," Xander paused, taking a huff of air, "what sparks the sudden enthusiasm?"

I swung at him again, refusing to give him any time to recover, and disarmed him. The blade chinked as it hit the walk and then clanged as it fell prone against the stone. He instantly unsheathed a second sword and blocked himself from further unexpected assault.

"Eager," he commented with a pleased smile, "very, very eager."

"Shush, Xander."

All of my focus went into disarming him again. If I could disarm Xander, I could disarm anybody. I aimed my attacks at the fulcrum point of his blade and his hand, hoping he may loosen his grip eventually.

"You've become quite the swordsman."

"Sh!"

"So-" our blades clashed "-focused you cannot have a conversation with your dear brother?"

"Shush!"

"Very well..."

"Don't chide me," I hissed.

He took the initiative during this talk to issue a close. I swung, and he stepped back, dropping his blade.

"You are doing amazingly well, sister. Why?"

I acquiesced to his request to end and lowered my weapon. "You know why."

His face fell. "You know it's father's choice."

Xander, of anyone, should have known my struggle. I was a girl, a fighter, a soldier, locked away inside a castle. I was a fairytale princess that the public could never see. They dreamt and mocked my existence, and yet I couldn't do a thing about it.

I spat, throwing my sword at him again. He parried with relative ease, but my force threw him off balance: "I'm tired of father's choice! I can handle my own, far better than even Leo." I swung again, gritting my teeth. "You know that! I'm proving to him that I can be good enough to survive in the world! I'm strong!" I struck at him, but he had moved too far away. "I'm ready!"

"Corrin," he breathed. "It's enough."

I blew a puff of air, knowing he was right. Getting frustrated never helped one battle. I handed him my blade, and he took it away with no hesitance. Promptly following, he collected the sword on the ground as well.

"Aptly put," he said, "but you've given him no incentive to want to let you go."

"What if I told him I would never marry, being stuck in here?"

"Oh, don't say that - it scares me too."

"Xander," I whined. "You admit it's true."

He returned to the weapon rack. He replaced his sword with his legendary blade Siegfried and mine with my custom sword Ganglari. I scoffed as he handed it to me.

"Corrin, I don't want to believe you're at the age to marry either. You're my baby sister."

"I'm a woman, Xander."

"Understood," he affirmed. "Just hard to believe you'd be with a man."

I frowned. "What is that supposed to mean?"

He hesitated; he realized his mistake and faltered for the first time in weeks.

"Uh, well-"

"Well?" I demanded.

"It's nothing. It is such a foreign concept to the both of us."

Although angry, I had to admit he had a point. I hadn't seen Xander's eyes fall upon a particular lady in years, and I was not at all acquainted with the idea of love. We were both supremely and sorrowfully novice in the field of romance.

"Xander," I wondered, "why haven't you married? You're father's first son."

He situated himself, crossing his arms defensively. "I never considered the possibility. There is no way I could properly tend to a wife."

I pursed my lips and turned my back to him, no longer willing to fight with him. It was true he was busy, but he was a royal too! The first blood of the Nohrian line. And he had never considered the possibility. Really? He watched my angered expression as I crossed my own arms over my chest. He sighed.

"Sister, I know you're anxious for the world. But it truly does not work that way."

I chewed my cheek. "That's trash, Xander. I've studied the world for years."

"Experience, dear sister."

"History, dear brother. Years, and decades, and centuries… they don't lie!"

"Taking lessons from Leo, I see. Maybe I'm simply not historically accurate."

"Charming," I replied distastefully. "You're an ass, Xander."

"Oh, Corrin. Let's finish this bickering."

"Agreed."

I whirled around and, without another word to him, left the field. I kept my arms crossed and walked with loud, dignified steps. I didn't want anyone else bothering me. However, my efforts seemed to have a completely opposite effect, for when I stepped into the kitchen, Jakob nearly lost his kettle.

He piped, mouth ajar, "My lady, are you alright?"

I refused to acknowledge him. His face fell, and his whole body turned frigid as ice.

"Oh dear."

I heard Felicia's voice too as I walked into the hallway. She sounded far more composed, yet confused.

"Jakob, what is the matter?"

"Lady Corrin... I haven't seen her throw a tantrum in years! Oh, gods..."

"It's alright, you hurry - ah! Jakob, hot! Put it on the stove, not my hands!"

"Pardon, I'm acting like you all the sudden!"

"Jakob!"

I ignored them for the most part, hoping Felicia would keep Jakob busy long enough for me to escape to my room. My hopes were in vain, however, and Jakob came barreling down the hallway, stopping me before I'd gotten halfway to my room. He carried the kettle from the kitchen, and somehow had not spilled it running down the hallway.

"Milady, I-uh." he sputtered. "W-what seems to be the problem?"

"I'm fine, Jakob. I just need you to request an audience with my father tonight."

"Oh, dear. May I ask why?"

"No," I said. "Just do it."

He looked at me with a face of horror and laughed nervously, rubbing the kettle with his free hand. Gods, he was more a mess than I.

"I need some time to think. Please, don't bother me before father is ready."

* * *

Jakob knocked at my door a few hours later. I scraped myself from my bedsheets where I had been lying awake, attempting to sleep a couple hours of my pointless life away, and gathered my hair in a tail at the side of my head. I wore this look often, especially when my armor made it difficult to secure my hair in the back of my head. I had gotten accustomed to it, and it looked presentable, at least.

I walked out of the room, and, to my surprise, the four of my siblings had showed up. Xander and Leo each appeared somewhat disheartened, but Elise and Camilla smiled at me, anticipating my audience with Father. I knew they hoped for the same results as I did.

"Corrin, dear, Corrin. Don't look so nervous! It's only Father."

Honestly, I didn't feel nervous. I had gotten too fed up with life to be nervous.

Jakob called to me and began escorting us down the halls, toward the throne room. I walked at a slightly faster pace than the others, and Leo tapped my arm so I would slow.

We quickly reached the Grand Hall. I gasped at the mere addition of knights to the place - knights lined every inch of it! Since when had Father upgraded the army and castle security? Anyhow, they all stood at stern attention, guarding the doors to the throne room, watching the area ahead of them with diligence. I glanced at one man who caught my attention.

First, I looked at him, and, at first, he appeared to be just another one of the royal guards. But something in his face, or perhaps his demeanor, told me something more. I knew him. The memory felt distant, far away, and yet it felt warm and comfortable as well. He noticed my interest and gave a stifled smile. I wish I could have greeted him - if only I had not been going to attend an audience with father. I had to continue my pace, while still watching him, and he peered down, satisfied.

"Who.." I mumbled under my breath, hoping the word would spark my memory. Nothing at all. Leo nudged my back, making sure I kept up with the others. The knights before the throne room automatically opened the doors, anticipating our audience.

The throne room was grand as ever. Gold embellishments lined the walls and stretched to the ceiling where a mosaic of precious metals made a picture of Father's beloved deity, Anankos. Blood red tapestries covered the stone walls, each presenting a different interpretation of Nohr's flag. There was one hung for each new king, and now, there were nine in total. A bare spot on the wall remained for Xander, for a tapestry Felicia had offered to create when his time came.

Father sat on his throne, eyes searching the five of us.

"Welcome, my children. What brings you here?"

I stood forward, and I took a deep, shaky breath.

"Father," I announced. "I must ask this of you. I have come of age, and yet I must remain in the castle. Do I have your blessing to leave? Or to have an explanation?"

His mouth set in a rigid, hard line.

"No," he responded, voice richocetting off the walls.

"Father!" I complained, "Please! Maybe if I know why, I will be satisfied, and I won't question my life any longer."

"Corrin, you are not to leave this castle. Especially not now. It is not your time."

"Father, may we not have a proper reasoning?" Leo complained on my behalf. I stepped forward, but Leo held me back.

"No, son. That is an order."

"Father, please!" I cried. "Every waking moment I wonder why I train, who I am! So many of your people have come to believe I'm simply a myth. I can't be that. I'm real! I need to believe I'm real..."

"Silence, Corrin! No daughter of mine will question my rule!" he boomed. "Leave at once, insolent child!"

My chest heaved. Leo glanced at me, fear in his eyes. For once, he looked at me, loving, tender, caring. He feared that Father had hurt me.

I stared back at Leo briefly, probably with true fear. I felt like I had been torn in two. I had been denied, again, by my own family! Xander yanked my arm, pulling me from the audience to escape the throne room. Before father decided upon something worse. We left, and the doors to the throne room shut, clanking. Leo stepped towards me, shaking his head.

"Perhaps it has to do with the condition of our kingdom with Hoshido. Perhaps they ployed to kill you as a child, Corrin, and he's trying to keep you safe," he offered insightfully.

Camilla agreed, "It is a plausible proposition. Brother, what do you think?"

Xander had been as solid as a stone in father's audience, and he remained stoic, even now.  
"I believe it's likely," he said.

Likely? Who cared. I wanted to cry. I didn't care if it meant my life-inside these walls, I had yet to have a life. I felt a rock coalesce in my throat, keeping me from speaking.

Elise pulled my arm toward her, "Oh, Corrin! Don't cry."

Camilla stepped up to me and rubbed my shoulder. Xander, too, seemed to soften, and some ounce of regret gleamed in his eyes as if he wished he had said something against father now that I was in such distress.

Their sympathy and warmth did nothing to hold back the floodgates. Instead, the dam holding all my emotions in place cracked and collapsed, and I collapsed too, onto my knees, right before the siblings I held dear and the knights which guarded the throne room. It began as a mere whimper, and then a sob broke through. I couldn't recall much of what happened besides that; I sat in despair, bawling, the tears so thick they left stains on my cheeks and wetted the ends of my hair. Someone eventually picked me up - whom I eventually found out was Jakob - and rescued me from the humiliation of myself.

He brought me to my room, almost halfway across the castle, and laid me on my bed. The action visibly exacted him, carrying me such a distance, but I felt, with the exhaustion of pouring out emotions, no gratitude whatsoever.

"I've brought you some water," he said, tossing a blanket over me. "Get some rest, please."

Of course. I had never felt more tired.

* * *

The night shifted outside my window; leaves scratched at the castle walls and the wind whistled loudly. There were no other sounds besides this, but these, in particular, were far too loud, as if my window had been left open. I shuddered too; the cold proved to me that, indeed my window had been left open.

I gathered my blanket around me and stepped onto the floor. Jakob had removed my shoes, so the floor felt like ice against my bare toes. With delicate steps on the balls of my feet, I went to the window. The wind rushed by me.

It wasn't like Jakob to leave the window open. My heart dropped.

I saw it. A single rope hanging down from my windowsill.

My heart started beating so hard and so loud I felt as if it could shake the room. Was this real? I slowly and carefully reached out to the rope and gave it a decent tug. It stayed firmly in place, completely open to my usage.

Father ordered me to stay in the castle. But the temptation overwhelmed me. Fear or wonder did not grace my mind whatsoever. My thought: now I can leave. I was so transfixed on the rope that I did not notice the note on the floor, which I promptly picked up and unfolded.

 _Lady Corrin of Nohr,_

 _We are prepared to stage a kidnapping. Climb this rope, travel to the edge of the woods, and meet with a woman by the name of Rinkah. She is prepared to safely remove you from the country. If this note and rope are in place, you still have time._

 _Trust us. King Garon compells war, and you are to be the martyr._

 _Sincerely, an old friend._

An old friend? Did I use to have friends? They determined that Father would stage my death, and based on how coldly he had treated me, I did not doubt it.

I threw the blanket off of me and shoved the note into one of my pockets. I grabbed the nearest slippers, yanked them on my feet, and prepared for my descent, gripping the rope tightly and positioning my feet together.

I did not care if father was testing me. If there was a tiny chance I could really live, I would do anything for it. Even this.

My feet left the room, and I had committed treason.

The wind proved to be a larger problem than expected. It blew the rope, so I had to adjust my feet every few moments. The cold whipped me in the back, and my arms burned before I could see the ground. But I continued, ignoring the pain and the cold. I continued on and on.

Then, my feet touched down on real, solid earth.

"Lady Corrin!"

I turned around, and it appeared I had been deceived. A Nohrian soldier stood there, eyes wide. My heart palpitated.

"You mustn't!"

He was about to run. I knew it. I could feel the tension. But before I could react, his body flew into the castle wall, and he grew limp.

"What!" I breathed.

An arm encircled my neck, choking me and throwing me backward. A linen flew over my head, my hands ripped away from me into binds behind my back.

Everything went dark.

* * *

 _Author's Note: Thank you, everyone, for reading this! Unlike when I first posted this story, I do have a complete (or mostly complete) storyline and direction. I appreciate the ideas and criticizisms of anyone. Thanks so much!_


	2. Waking in Hoshido

My bleary vision set on an unidentifiable object. Bright white light lit the room, but my eyes were too overcome by the daze of sleep to make out anything before me. I curled, raising my arms up above my head to stretch, and pressed my eyes shut again. Whatever mattress I laid on could hardly be considered one; it was near rock-hard, but I merely grumbled a complaint and rolled myself away from the light.

It took me all of a few minutes to realize the uncanniness of the situation, and that none of my surroundings felt familiar. I pressed down on the bed with my fingers and reopened my eyes steadily, hoping this time I may discern whatever lied in front of me.

A woman, sitting, with her head down resided in a chair beside me. I could hardly distinguish her clothing, and the only indication of her identity I gathered was her red hair. I knew no one with red hair.

"Lady Hinoka," someone said, nudging her. This other mysterious presence was covered in mostly black and stood behind her like a guard.

"Huh… Oh, is she..?"

The woman yawned, raising her head, and I determined that I had no idea who she was. Nor did I know the man beside her.

"Hey, Corrin," she said. "Sorry… Orochi put you on a tranquilizer."

"I wonder if you got into that too, Milady," another woman commented, presumably Orochi.

"Oh, hush."

I pushed myself up and looked dazedly at the red-haired woman. I could feel a faint tingling sensation in my legs and a relentless weariness as my arms held me up. It was hard to say if this tranquilizer dampened my emotions too because I felt no fear in this new environment. Either that, or my tired brain automatically pushed aside anything beside sleep.

"You look like Takumi," she murmured.

A laugh came from the other woman in startled agreement.

"If she acts like this every morning, I'd say so."

Hinoka scoffed.

"He's not so bad."

"Then why does Hinata have to drag him out of bed every morning?"

I closed my eyes, fought away the urge to sleep, and focused on the familiarity of these names. I knew Hinoka and Takumi, at least. Orochi sounded vague.

I pressed a hand against my temple to ground myself from this dizzying remedy and exhaled roughly from the sour feeling in my head.

Oh, where was Jakob? My tea.

I pressed both of my hands against my face and grumbled:

"Where… uh…"

Everyone remained silent for a moment, until Hinoka moved toward Orochi.

"I thought you said this was your strongest formula?"

Orochi sighed. "A little white lie's not going to hurt Takumi, will it? We have sufficient protection if she tries anything anyway. Plus, you were the one who wanted her conscious, wasn't it?"

Hinoka grimaced audibly.

"If Ryoma finds out…"

Ryoma. I knew that name. I shook my head, knowing I couldn't place it, but knowing that it was somewhere in my head. This fog in my memory killed me.

"Lord Ryoma wants his sister back too, you know that."

The man's voice suddenly cut into the chatter:

"Orochi, I believe she's fighting the effects."

"Oh. Oh yes, she's just like Takumi. Try to calm her down, if you can, Lady Hinoka."

"If I may. Corrin, you're in a fort just south of the Nohrian border. Don't worry - you're being protected by a staff of elite troops."

I blinked my eyes open, almost in awe. There was a pain in my head that I hadn't previously noticed, probably because so much of my body was still numb.

"I don't want protection anymore," I muttered.

"Good. She's bitter."

"Orochi!"

"Hm? The stars are aligning for a pleased Takumi."

Orochi drew circles in the air, and my eyes had finally adjusted to the point I could decipher her. If these effects on my mind were her doing I couldn't tell whether to praise or hate her. The pain behind my eyes stabbed me, and I decided to hate her.

"I know…" I mumbled, but then I determined the pain in my head was too much, and I laid myself back down on the mattress. Nobody uttered a complaint - at least, not that I could hear - and allowed me to slip back under these strange comatose effects.

* * *

My next awakening gave me quite a shock. I had grown almost completely lucid, save for the drowsiness accompanied with sleep, and had forgotten all but the voices of the people around me. They were gone. The room was dark and alone and unknown. I shivered, gathering up the single blanket which covered me around my shoulders.

The air was warm, and yet the coldness of the floor startled me. I found my boots next to the bedside, yanked them on, and peered out the window. The mere ground fascinated me, seeing how close I was to it, and I boggled over the landscape. Ripe fruit trees swayed in the wind, and bushes huddled close to the ground for protection. A blanket of purple sky hung over them, ominous yet enthralling. I longed to reach out to it though I feared the abrupt coldness of the wind.

I stepped away from the window and continued searching about the room. I found it uncanny that a sword had been left, consider how these people had gone to the effort to sedate me to keep me calm. I didn't touch it, however, it case they meant to test my volatility.

My steps led me to the door, and I grabbed the knob, having all intentions to leave the room. I was curious, and I wanted to see more.

Eerie sounds outside. I pressed my ear to the door and heard the clank of metal, calls of soldiers. I knew those sounds well enough from my training. They grew quickly in volume, so I stepped away from the door, positioning myself in the corner of the room.

The sounds died down. Slowly the door creaked open, and, unaware of my presence, a soldier walked in. He looked about momentarily before shutting the door and resting his head against the wood. He sighed roughly.

He was undeniably a Nohrian lieutenant, based upon his suit of armour. The only lieutenant I knew personally was Gunter, and this man did not have the embroidery fashioned on his Nohrian crest that Gunter did, nor did Gunter do much outside of guarding the castle walls. I watched him with unease despite the Nohrian familiarity. My head may have been foggy, but I knew I was in Hoshidan territory.

He turned just enough for me to make out his face in the grim light. I recognized him from the line of soldiers before the throne room, and I recalled that I knew of him before then too. His hair sat upon his head in an unruly, curling mess, and he breathed ragged breaths from battle. A steel sword hung from his scabbard.

I stepped forward ever-so-slightly, but it was too much. Something beneath my foot crunched. He whirled, placing a hand on the hilt of his sword, calling, "Who's there?"

I couldn't hide myself. I really didn't want to.

"No, don't," I said, stepping into the light with my hands out.

When I stepped out before him, he looked utterly lost, struck by an unseen force. He removed his hand from his sword and relaxed completely.

"Corrin," he breathed.

I hesitated.

He stepped forward, extending his hand, and touched me on the cheek. I shivered from both the touch and the odd recognition.

"I know I know you," I said. "Why can't I remember?"

"Maybe I've changed. We've both changed a lot since we were young."

His words gave me no apprehension. I looked to him for an answer, but I could tell he hoped that I would find it myself.

"It starts with an s, doesn't it?" I asked. I was unsure of whether I was on the right track or not.

"Silas," he corrected with a nod. The name failed to invigorate me with memories of the past, but it did invoke at least a moderate sense of warmth.

"Why are you here?" I wondered.

"King Garon's orders. I'm to return you to Nohr. If not, he threatened to declare all-out war."

More noise erupted from the hall, including hard footsteps and a sharp, "Where's the rat?" from a familiar voice. Silas only had time to take a step back before the door was yanked ajar and Hinoka entered, weapon in hand.

"Corrin, stand back!"

Hinoka raised her ninjata threateningly. I objected, positioning myself between her and Silas.

"Wait! Why am I here? I refuse to be the object which starts a needless war!"

"Coward," Hinoka spat at Silas. "It's because you're a Hoshidan princess, and we're taking you back!"

It didn't make sense. I've lived in Nohr all my life. I looked, bewildered, at Hinoka for the answer.

"King Garon stole you from us as an infant. Doesn't it make sense, why that dastard locked you away for so many years? He wants to start this war. And now this war he wants, we're ready for."

Silas must've shown some recognition of the situation on his face because Hinoka looked to him and scoffed.

"Realize your efforts are a lost cause?" she asked.

He frowned. "Keeping Corrin safe is my only cause."

"Oh, really? Then you'll have no problem siding with Hoshido on the matter."

"No. No problem whatsoever."

Hinoka's face fell, and she slightly lowered her ninjata. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, partially due to the lack of Silas in my memory. Hinoka's brow furrowed in confusion.

"What are you to her?" she wondered, aiming her weapon in his direction.

"Her friend. I committed treason and snuck her out of the castle. She, in turn, saved me from execution. I owe her my life."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I, of all people, had stood up against my father and won? I could understand how Silas was grateful, my father being the merciless king he he was. I knew his heart had hardened over the years to cope with the country's border tension, but I realized allowing someone to live was not something his present mind would allow.

I swallowed, knowing the second I had stepped from my window I had committed treason. I knew that if he found out my intention to escape, I was surely dead.

"Then why would you return me to Nohr?" I wondered.

"To postpone the war," Silas insisted. "It's the only way."

"Father will kill me for what I've done."

"What have you done?"

"I left the castle of my own accord! That's treason in itself."

"No one knows that. The only evidence left was an open window and a bludgeoned soldier."

I hesitated, weighing my options. So no one knew. I glanced at Hinoka, who wore a hard look on her face.

"Hinoka, I have to see it for myself. Believe me, I will return and fight against Nohr if this is all true."

"No. You're in Hoshido now."

"This war must be prevented! It's stupid, it's needless. I'm no reason for innocent lives to be taken. My life is nothing against the thousands who would perish."

"He'll still instigate it, no matter what."

"How will the people feel? He wouldn't dare start a war for no reason. The people who riot at his doorstep, the draft would fail - if I returned. Let me stop this, and then, if I find he is as deceitful as you say, I will join you to stop his reign."

She didn't seem thoroughly convinced. Her eyes flickered back and forth between me and Silas, her mouth set. Her grip tightened around her weapon.

"Hinoka," I pleaded, raising my arms up in surrender. "Then strike me down now. Save me the suffering of having thousands of deaths on my shoulders. Please."

Her composure changed instantly, horrified by my words. I felt horrified by my own certainty, but I remained, feeding off Silas's inspiring resolve. She huffed, irritated.

"Corrin… I didn't think they would raise you to be such a good person. I'll let you go, but know that it is only out of love for my sister."

Then she pointed her weapon to Silas and returned to the ferocity she had previously possessed. Her voice was like ice.

"And you. You will be her escort back and forth from Hoshido. If I find she does not return, I will not hesitate to cut you down. Do I make myself clear?"

Her voice silenced the entire fort, melding into the walls. I too felt threatened by the edge in her voice, however, I could not imagine how Silas felt being the target of her words. But, instead of looking intimidated, he kept his composure. I silently praised him for such a resolve.

"I can do that," he said.

I wanted to ask him not to promise her anything, because not even I felt certain of my ability to leave the castle again. If I returned to Nohr, I would postpone the war. But whether that would get me any closer to freedom was questionable.

Hinoka stiffened, obviously offended by urging us on:

"Go. Before Takumi arrives. He'll undoubtedly refuse this."

Silas stepped toward the door and, noticing my hesitance, offered his hand to me. It had been so many years since I had held someone's hand that the mere thought filled me with warm unfamiliarity and excitement. His hand was covered in a thick, yet worn glove, but I accepted the offer nonetheless. I had no reason to refuse.

Hinoka didn't turn back after we departed. She remained in the room, as if she did not wish to rethink her decision. She had decided it was final, and I felt the weight of that too. I may never actually return to Hoshido; my words were but wind to my father, and possibly to everyone else as well.

We left the fort under the blessing of one of the Hoshidan soldiers who had overheard our conversation with Hinoka. He watched over me as Silas fetched his horse in an enclave of trees across from the fort, and he helped me mount the horse. It was definitely something I wasn't used to.

"Don't fight her gait. Relax and hold onto me," Silas coached me, walking his horse about in circles to let me get the feel of riding. After a while, I nodded. He eased her into a gentle trot in direction of Nohr, steadily picking up the pace.

I pressed my forehead into his shoulder, between his plates of armor. I hadn't gotten accustomed to riding yet, I could tell, but we needed to get moving.

I wished I had had time to savor the landscape and the wind ripping my hair back. But I felt no desire to. Suddenly my wish to see the world became a wish for my warm room and some of Jakob's freshly brewed herbal tea.

Maybe Father was right. Maybe it was not my time.


	3. Bandits

As far as exhaustion went, I hadn't planned for this much.

Riding a horse took a great deal more skill than I had ever given anyone credit for, and I regretted not knowing that previously. My calves and my thighs burned simultaneously, and I almost regretted riding back to Nohr.

Silas had stopped several times momentarily along the way only to give me some time to adjust, but this time we settled into a clearing in the brush. The woods were not only too thick to properly navigate in the darkness, but Silas's horse needed to rest anyway. He quickly built us a fire which I watched him prepare in awe - I had never seen anything like it - and he sat down before the crackling light. I sat next to him, shoving my hands toward the fire. My joints were uneasy.

"I guess I should be unsurprised," he commented, "that you know nothing about the outdoors."

"Hey. It's not nothing. It's just… limited knowledge."

"Severely limited."

I pouted, giving in. He smiled despite me.

"I wish I could've gotten away with sneaking you out. I would've taught you this kind of stuff."

I peeled myself away from the warmth of the fire and looked to him. He laid on his back on the ground and stared up at the star-less night.

"Tell me about it," I said.

"Hm?"

"Tell me about sneaking me out. I don't remember nearly any of my childhood. Maybe it'll spark a memory or two."

He smirked, visualizing something, and dragged himself up off the ground.

"Okay. We had to have been… I was probably ten or so at the time. So that would've made you eight or nine."

"When's my birthday?" I asked.

"March 21. The first day of spring. Why?"

So he did know me. I smiled. I had never really felt like someone cared about me, and the little things I had to offer. Not even Camilla's over-done declarations of love could surpass this bubbly feeling.

"No reason," I returned. He looked to me for an answer, but then settled for my plain smile instead.

"So… I had spent months planning out the route. I wrote down people's schedules, their duties, and I always searched for new passages in the castle. There weren't any secret tunnels, but I still looked for them every day."

I knew of a few strange nooks and crannies around the Northern Fortress, but none of which led outside. They all connected to broom closets, and were the way the maids got around so quickly. Investigating these tunnels had been the extent of my childhood exploration.

Silas continued:

"So I decided the only way out was from the roof. You know the vines that used to stretch up the wall?"

I nodded. There used to be vegetation that covered the entire castle, but that had long since been removed. I guessed we were the reason.

"Yeah, we climbed down that. And we made it down unseen, too. The problem ended up being getting back in." He winced. "That's when we got caught."

I tried to remember. But it felt like a wall covered up my memories. It was not a dim or hazy memory; it was not existent at all.

"What did we do outside the castle?"

He pursed his lips, remembering.

"Well, I showed you different types of plants. Told you not to walk on logs, but then you did it anyway and got a splinter in your foot."

Yeah, that sounded like me. I had never been a person to follow directions.

"You picked some flowers. I remember that. And I remember how upset you were when Gunter made you get rid of them."

Now this brought back a memory. A memory not of Silas though, but of Leo. He had brought me flowers, yellow ones, one day after perusing the castle gardens. I could not remember if I had been sick or felt bad that particular day.

"Were they marigolds?"

"That, or maybe they were weeds. I can't remember."

"But they were yellow."

"Yeah," he breathed. "Why do you remember the color of the flowers, and not me?"

I pouted - I couldn't control what my brain decided to remember. I opened my mouth to speak, and he chuckled.

"I'm kidding."

"I'm sorry," I said anyway. I was sorry. It pained me that I couldn't remember, and I buffeted on his seemingly harmless comment despite his newfound levity. I gritted my teeth, turning my head away from him. He scrambled forward, abruptly catching me and my attention.

"Corrin. Don't feel bad. Please. Don't do that."

"I can't help it."

"Corrin..."

I pulled myself away from him. I brought my knees up to my chest, sealing myself from him in a tight ball. He sighed.

I looked down to the ground. Small bits of tinder made piles before me and I lazily threw them into the fire. After the flames shortly nipped at them, the fire's behavior returned to normal, crackling, popping. A log split inside the heat, spraying ash up into the air. The sky was gray.

"We should snuff the fire. It'll be sunrise before long," I suggested.

Silas could not argue with that. While the sun had yet to come up, the sky had grown a few shades lighter. Soon the smoke from the fire would be visible. I knew at least that from my countless hours of watching the sun and the moon circumvent me day after day. Silas rose to his feet, and he kicked a log out of the fire, rolling it on the ground with his foot. We were in no hurry, so I did not complain.

I got up and stretched too.

"Are you tired?" I asked.

He responded after passing me a glance. He said, plain and simple: "Very."

"You can rest. I have more energy than you."

He shook his head and stepped on the log. It split again under his weight and dusted ash everywhere. The fire in the log had been reduced to mere embers.

"We need to find some water. I didn't bring my rations with me, and Nohr's at least a day away."

I caught him by the arm as he turned to the woods.

"Let me go."

"Are you sure?"

"Lord Xander has been my sparring partner for two years now. If I run into anything, I'm sure I can handle it."

He nodded, acquiescing to my experience in combat. And then he pursed his lips mockingly.

"You won't be able to find your way back," he sighed. "You might pick a poisonous fruit... I'm going with you."

"I'm an inconvenience," I decided.

He smirked. "Actually, I like it. It helps me remember you really are a princess."

Sometimes I forgot it too, I had to admit. I did not act at all like a princess. Had I been like Camilla, I would be bossing Silas around like a slave, the only reward to him being my batting eyelashes. And I refused to stoop to the level of my sister.

I stepped up to the fire and dug my foot into the earth. My toe loosened the damply packed dirt, and I kicked it over the smoldering log in hopes to quench the heat. Using the ball of my foot, I crushed the mud into the log, and it hissed silently, dampness from the heated dirt whirling into the air as thin steam.

I watched the rest of the fire. The flames had grown weary since I threw in the tinder; all of those meager pieces had already burnt up, and they sat as heaps of ash below the fire. I kicked some of the dampened earth in, and it immediately knocked back a few flames.

" We should get going," Silas commented, looking up to the sky.

I acknowledged his comment, but then I went back to kicking dirt into the fire. It took a little while to engorge enough of the wood to stop the flames, but once that was done, there was little smoke but tiny puffs that billowed off the remnants.

"Okay," I said, turning to him.

"Look for the places with the most green and the tallest trees. That's where water will be. There might be a path from trampled plants too."

"A path would be delightful," I said somewhat sourly. He grinned, unwilling to turn his head to me and glanced around before traversing into the growth. I kept close behind, apprehensive.

As far as searching went, the spoils were fruitless, but as far as exploring went, I found a new world.

The growth always grappled onto my ankles, and when it stopped me from proceeding, I had to bend down to loosen the plants from their entanglement. When I crouched, I saw a plethora of different plants, colors, textures. If it had not been for Silas chiding me, I might have looked for hours. He pulled me up, and we continued. Still however, I looked up into the boughs. The birds were nothing new, but some of the budding flowers off the branches were.

I walked along, ensuring I raised my feet up above the ensnaring brush with every step, and watched the canopy; my fingers treaded along branches as I went, feeling the rough texture of the surface bark, feeling the smooth wood beneath the cracks.

Then as I went along, I heard movement beyond me, some sort of rustling, or maybe a voice.

I looked behind me, hoping to have found Silas, but he was absent from here. I did not know how he got ahead of me, but he had, and I turned to the noise.

"Silas?"

I peeked over the brush, searching for the source.

"Si-"

I found it, and my heart dropped.

I first heard the guffaw of one of the men. His voice was high and crackled when he spoke, and his back hunched in an especially uncomfortable way; he looked sick and malformed. Grimy swatches covered his face, among others of the group, and his clothes tore apart at the seams, appearing as though they had never been mended. The cackles of these men filled the air. I whimpered soundlessly, pushing myself against a tree behind me. The bark was sharp and protruded painfully through my clothes.

My eyes fixated on another man standing around the bonfire. If he already had not looked menacing enough, the axe swinging from his awful fingers, coated in dry and peeling blood certainly scared the life out of me.

An hand wrapped around mine, and I sucked in a breath. A hand entrapped this air behind my lips, and he pulled me back away from the mob.

"Sh," he hushed into my ear. "Don't make a sound."

That would not have been such a problem had it not been for my heart. It thumped nervously, and I was certain Silas could feel it before him. My breathing, too, ran rampant, and I could not keep my chest from heaving to every inhalation. He released his grip on me and put a finger to his lips. I nodded, afraid, and dipped down below the brush.

"We have to go," he whispered without volume. It was a wonder I even heard him. I nodded, preparing myself to go.

Gods, the forest floor was so covered in rocks and sticks and moss I thought it would be impossible to traverse silently. I envisioned myself crawling along, slipping on the wet grime that coated the floor, and falling into a heap of tinder. The crackling would be heard undoubtedly by the brigands.

Of course, this picture did not soothe my breathing nor the strange erratic rate of my heart.

And obviously, my worst fears came true.

I moved along with Silas without making much of any noise. But I had not expected the bandits to head in this direction regardless of our presence.

There was a crack of the forest floor and more voices behind us.

"Come here!"

Silas scrambled to his feet, extending a hand to pull me up. I took it, and he yanked me to my feet. I nearly slipped on the mossy grossness on the ground, but Silas serving as a third point of contact to the ground, I remained upright.

"Silas," I whispered hastily. "Where?"

"Anywhere."

I nodded and let go of his hand. We ran through the overgrowth, and it was not the moss that stopped me. It was the vines. Those dreaded weeds I had been so enthralled with.

I had my eyes focused on Silas rather than the ground: big mistake. I lost my footing on a weed sticking out over the grass, and I fell prone on the sticky, grimy ground.

I had not expected the bandits to have cared to run after us, but they had, and I found a rude introduction with the lot after one of the brutes peeled me off the ground by the collar. He laughed and yanked me mercilessly, making me sputter, in the direction of their camp. I struggled from him, and in hindsight, I dreadfully wished I had not.

The moment I tried to peel his fingers from my collar I was greeted by a sharp, disorienting pain in my head.

The object smacked into me, and for the first first moments, I had entirely lost my vision. I had no choice but to comply with his force, and he pulled me into the clearing I had seen them previously.

"What do we have here?" one man chuckled - the man who held the axe - as the grip around my wrists tightened awfully. "Nohrian noble woman, huh? She'd fetch a pretty penny…"

"Unhand her!" Silas hissed.

They had found Silas too. I scowled from both the pain and the misfortune when the other bandits yanked him out of the treeline. He had a nasty cut along his forehead, and the blood streamed from it, from his hairline, and it dripped steadily from his chin, having collected sweat as it fell. His face was set in an angry, awful hatred.

I barely contained myself from crying out. It was my fault we had gotten caught - he should have left me. There was no purpose coming back for me when my hands too were tied behind my back.

"She your lady? Huh. We'll enjoy watching your guts spill."

The bandit raised his axe to Silas's chest, and while I could hardly bear it, Silas retained the same menacing expression.

Menacing was not a good look for him.

I pulled against the grasp on my wrists, and the man who threaten Silas laughed at my struggle.

"As shameful in death as in life, Nohrian."

The man circumvented Silas, and while halfway through his walk, he hit Silas hard in the spine with the blunt end of his axe. Silas buffeted and yelled, sputtering.

"Don't !" I cried.

I rushed forward with all my force. I yanked my wrists away, but only managed to pull at my skin. The man laughed as he held me fast, and yet a blanket of white blinded me from the strain.

"Stop," I choked.

I fell back and forward at once. My body collapsed. I inhaled, and then everything went hazy.

 **A/N: I wish I could do this better, but I am reduced to writing on my phone, and I don't have the patience to rewrite and fix everything. Thank you for reading!**


	4. The Aftermath

I pushed myself up off the sodden ground. I felt woozy for a moment until my senses returned to me and my vision realigned. Silas looked to me in horror.

His lips parted slightly, he gazed over me with a kind of erratic confusion. He heaved with every breath, bent over his knee, close to the ground. His hands, pressed in the grass, kept him steady. Beads of sweat dribbled slowly down his neck and forehead-a nervous sweat.

But the air felt crisp and clean in my lungs, and the open expanse of the sky behind him looked a more vibrant color than ever before. My eyes had sharpened around any and every visible object in my spectrum. I could hear the birds flapping their wings, chirping like they were right next to me.

I felt the grass between my fingers, and the wispy blades tickled my bare skin. I felt refreshed. Invigorated.

"Silas?" I murmured. He did not reply—he only stared.

"I remember," I said, incredulous, "I remember everything."

I remember our talks and our plays. Our plans and our days. I remember that he was my one and only childhood friend. He lowered his head, relaxing, before slowly inching closer to me.

I buzzed with exhilaration. I remembered it all, no matter whether those memory felt good or bad or for better or worse.

Even my fingertips felt enriched with energy, awake.

"I remember yelling at my dad for threatening to kill you. I threatened my own life too. And -"

"Corrin," he snapped. His chest heaved, and my levity faded. He had grown close, and wiped my face with his thumb. His touch sobered me. "Look around."

His face, sweaty and damp, also maintained spots of what I had thought to be mud. It existed on his clothes, his arm, his neck. Like a splatter from a child jumping into a puddle, it covered him. But this was not mud.

The forest surrounded us, swatches of the same muddy red smeared on the ground. The red flowers were not red at all—they were covered thickly in blood, and the dirt below them had become dark and sticky. Even some of the tree trunks appeared damp, and their leaves rustled over them flecked with spots. The sounds of wildlife filled the air: oblivious.

I wiped my hand across my dirty face. My hand brought with it an ichorous smear that dribbled down my arm.

My lip quivered, and I felt a tickle in my sinuses.

"What happened?" I choked.

He brushed a hand through my hair, which I noticed, too had become sticky with blood. Not my blood.

"They got what they deserved," he said quietly.

My heart pounded.

"I don't understand," I replied. Taking a peek back toward the scene, I saw no bodies, while their must have been a dozen bandits in all. I pressed my eyes closed, searching my mind for what had happened. Did someone hit me?

"What? I… Who?"

He grabbed my hand and urged me to stand up with him. Obliging, I tried not to look around with the heightened vantage point, just in case bodies were in our vicinity.

"Let's clean you up."

I heard the river not far, and slowly situated myself in that direction. Anything to get away from here. He pulled me along.

The terrain was even thicker here than it was in the trees, as the water source ran nearby, fueling the forest with life. We tread through patiently.

Thinking made my head spin. As traumatic as it was for me, I expected it to have been worse for Silas – he witnessed it all, whatever happened.

We reached the water, and he gasped.

"Don't look, Corrin. Close your eyes."

I complied instantly, tensing. How the travesty had spread all the way here was beyond my imagination. My hands were soldered together in a gross clasp of wetness, and he laid his own hands upon them to lead me.

"Come this way, you can look this way."

"What was it?" I couldn't help myself.

He bit his lip, looking sternly into my eyes.

"I couldn't tell exactly," he said. "Sit here, I'll clean you up."

He seated me at the river's edge, and I slipped in the mud onto my side. My foot had gone through my shoe and emerged through the other side. The bandits hacked through my clothes. Much of my skin touched the dirty ground.

"Silas, tell me what happened," I demanded, almost weeping.

"I don't want to. Look at yourself."

Streams of recent blood covered my arms, so had not wanted to look down at myself. Only my shawl had stayed intact. My ripped undershirt left my chest primarily exposed, my belt was missing, and the bottoms of my slacks were slashed with frayed holes. I only now noticed my boots filled with liquid, with the gaping holes through the sides.

My shawl covered enough, but I eased it over my chest and held it in place. Silas snickered, for some reason.

"What's funny?" I demanded, clutching my shawl tightly.

"It's not." He confirmed. "How you're still worried about modesty."

He splashed water on my face, in my hair, and up my arms. Gods, what had the bandits done to me? Tears stung at my eyes. If I had been so violated, why didn't Silas care?

We continued to wash off my body, and so much blood washed away in the river. I cried too, and wiping the tears only made matters worse.

"Is this what war is?" I asked, rubbing my forearms free of dried blood.

"No," he breathed. "War is much more… Fair."

"How did they die?"

He shrugged. "No, Corrin. I'm glad you don't remember it all. No one needs to see that."

"But what killed them?"

He looked bewildered.

"You don't remember any of it?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you!"

"You. You killed them, Corrin. And they didn't stand a chance."

I stared into the water, trying to grasp my reflection, but the stream ran too fast and harsh for that. He rubbed my arm.

Me? Not even Xander could stand against that many men alone. What had I done?

"I don't even have my sword."

"You didn't use it. I don't know, it's hard to explain. You transformed into something. Your body became this animal… I was afraid you were going to kill me too, actually."

"Describe it to me," I said.

"I could hardly see what was happening, the light was so bright. All the men around us were paralyzed; it even affected me. One by one, you ripped them apart. You had horns and a tail. Wings, too. Some creature I had never seen before."

"You should drink too," he suggested, taking a scoop of water in his hands for himself. I followed suit, taken aback by the cold on my teeth. The water soothed my throat, nevertheless.

"Are all Hoshidans like this?" I wondered.

"The war would have been over long ago if they were all this way."

I splashed more water on myself and through my hair. Silas helped me all he could, but we could not remove everything without totally submerging myself in the water.

"We need to keep moving," Silas said plainly.

We left the river and found our little camp. Silas's horse remained, still tied where we had left her. I gathered everything we had scattered around, including a pile of unused tinder and leather scraps.

I scrambled with the leather, trying to fashion something akin to a belt to fasten my clothes back into place. Silas interrupted me, grabbing them from my hands and swaddling me in a large blanket he had taken from the supplies. Then we pushed the leather into the holes in my shoes.

"Let me know if you get cold," he wanted.

I nodded.

"Of course. Thank you. Silas."

When we mounted his horse, he pushed me into place, and I pressed my face against his back. I did not want to admit it, but the holes in my clothes and shoes were undeniable. I had become a monster; a heinous monster, as Silas believed. My heart pumped all of the sudden.

"Hey Silas," I asked suddenly, before he got the horse moving.

"Yes?" he replied. My voice trembled.

"What did I become? What kind of monster?"

"Honest? It looked like a dragon."

I huffed unsteadily. A dragon...


	5. Return to Nohr

Time went by to the clip-clop of the horse's hooves. I listened for awhile, but after a few hours, I had become numb to the sound. My mind quit racing since we left, and instead it had become void of any and all comprehensible thought.

Coming to terms with what I was had not yet hit me despite the evidence ripped into my clothing. Silas remained firm, refusing me the details of the event, having it been so gruesome. So we spent the time telling stores back and forth about our lives. He told stories regarding his experience in the military, while I expounded upon the lighthearted bickering of my siblings. By the way Silas spoke of my father, he knew Garon was a corrupt ruler, but he had stayed dedicated to Nohr's cause. The reason he had entered the military came from himself and with no regret. I imagine the prestige his effort had given him, being the youngest lieutenant in the army.

"May I ask… was that, back there, the worst you've witnessed?"

"Honestly, no. I would rather not go into the details."

Oh.

We rode in silence, for I regretted asking the question. The sun had drifted down, and night hinged on the hour. Pink and orange filled the clouds.

"Silas, shouldn't we set up camp?"

He shook his head. Currently we occupied a large vale, a dip in the landscape. Mountainous forests loomed in the distance. I peeked around Silas and saw what he meant.

"Is that a steeple?"

"That's the castle," he confirmed.

The object which had caught my eye was one of the many pointed castle towers, home to one of the castle's noble families.

"Finally," I whispered. Silas stifled a laugh.

"What?" I asked.

"This trip has been quite short, actually. The castle is close to the Hoshidan border."

It was then I realized how very tiny I was and how big the world was. I heard of oceans and continents beside ours, and if this trip had been short, I could not imagine how much land truly existed.

Eventually Silas's horse had us positioned atop the hill. Across the expanse stood a magnificent wall of stone. Peaks of the castle towers projected far over this wall. I could not believe the size of the city. That, and a village seemed to have cozily settled around the capital as if it a fire for warmth. Around that, a moat of water protected both the village and city. It all awed me, and I marveled every wooden building, every stone block, and each droplet of water. Reaching the drawbridge, the horse's hooves made a distinctly different sound, and the soldiers readied their weapons.

"Should we be frisked before entering?" I asked.

"They would not dare frisk a lieutenant, Corrin."

I nodded and pulled my shawl tightly around me.

The city gates shuddered open, and through the crack between the gates, the marketplace exploded. It bustled with life: citizens, customers and merchants alike ran wildly, searching and gathering merchandise to bring home to their families. The horse entered automatically, obviously accustomed to this environment.

I gawked at the people as we passed them, up atop Silas's horse. Some people knelt in recognition, while others murmured, "who is that? Nohrian women are blond."

I touched my hair, picking out a few strands. My hair always reminded me of the color of molasses: rich and dark with a red tinge in the sunlight. Not at all like my Nohrian siblings.

In fact, I looked drab all around. My clothes were shredded, my face was covered in dirt. The look suited Silas, who wore the dirt with pride.

"Milady!" A voice rang out over all the others. Flora popped out of the crowd, stopping the horse from moving any further. "Sir, if you don't mind, we must get this woman to the tailor immediately! This is no way to showcase a noble lady! Come, come."

Flora waved in the direction of an alley, and Silas acquiesced, probably being that she made a scene in front of citizens. His horse followed her calmly, and allowed itself to be tied up outside a shop. Flora nudged us both inside.

"There we are," she said, locking the door behind us. "Corrin, go ahead and take a breath. Felicia is on her way with fresh clothes, I'm certain.

"Now, you, Silas. I'll have you know that if you don't make lady Corrin the most ground-breaking event of the year, I'll have to break you. Do I make myself clear?"

Silas grimaced. "I already took her through the front gates – I was supposed to sneak her back in."

"This is her chance to be released from that dreadful castle," she snapped.

The ground crackled. I felt a wave of cold run through the air.

"I make myself perfectly clear. Good."

Silas stepped back, frowning, and Flora stepped up to me. She guided me to a chair on the opposite wall of the shop. The shelves were lined with potions, herbs and tonics.

"What is this place?" I asked.

"My sister and I's apothecary. We do not always have enough work at the castle, so we also tend to this shop. It's closed now, so we won't be heard."

With that, Felicia tripped into the room, holding a red dress and new shoes. I sighed in relief. It was not the armor I was used to wearing, but it was better than these torn night clothes. Flora led me to a room upstairs where I changed into this outfit. The lock of the door clicked twice, and Flora delicately ran down the stairs. I placed the clothes on a stand and pressed my ear to the door.

"What happened to her? I thought it was your duty to protect her!" Flora's voice rang clear as day. Silas's was slightly more difficult to discern, low.

"She's unharmed. What matters is she is here now, ripped clothes or not."

"Completely unharmed? She was not assaulted, was she?"

"Gods, no, Felicia. I would have torn the man apart personally."

I trembled. She asked if I was alright, yet I was the killer. Once I pulled the dress on and laced up my shoes, I looked over the outfit. I was not used to wearing a dress. It hugged my frame. I took a breath and headed back down the stairs.

"Oh, Soren, I should have come up with you," Felicia whined. "You need not tied that yourself."

"Felicia, I'm not a child anymore," I said, turning around for her to adjust the lacing on the corset. She tied it up perfectly, as her incompetence typically stemmed from actions including sharp objects or heat. Flora fetched a small sewing kit from the shelves.

"The only reason you do it is because Jakob wakes you in the morning. Otherwise, I would help you every morning."

I rolled my eyes. Sometimes the maids were a little too helpful. Speaking of it, Felicia took out a handkerchief and begun wiping my temples, while Flora sectioned my hair to braid. It was a bit overwhelming.

"We should depart shortly," Silas said. "If her entrance is to be as grand as you wish."

Still, the maids worked on me despite his protests. Felicia crushed some berries to stain my cheeks, and Flora rolled my braided hair up and pinned it on my head. Then they checked my clothing, retying everything I had already done. Flora made a speedy alteration to the dress, right at the small of my back.

"There. She's ready," Flora said, turning me around. Felicia nodded in approval.

"Are you ready, milady?" Silas asked.

I, too, nodded. He led me out the door. Night had grown close, but citizens were still out, and the light still lingered. He helped me mount the horse, whispering over my shoulder, "You look beautiful."

Beautiful was hardly the compliment I strive for, but in this situation it would do.

At first the ride was just like when we entered the city, but then, as we approached civilians, Silas would call, "Make way for Lady Corrin, Lost Princess of Nohr!" People began to gawk at me, some in disbelief, some in amazement. The seas of people parted for us, and we found no difficulty riding straight to the castle. At the castle doors, Gunther as well as other soldiers stood. Jakob was also there, probably to deliver me to my father. Civilians looked on from afar.

I slid off the horse. Jakob smiled and bowed, welcoming me home.

"This is where I leave you, Corrin," Silas said.

"Not so fast, lieutenant. The king wishes an audience with the both of you," Jakob warned.

Silas and I shared at quick glance before he dismounted his horse. Felicia had been following us, obviously, because she took the reins from Silas and assured she would tend to his horse.

"Don't get too tangled up," he chided.

"I can handle it, sir."

Neither of us knew why my father called Silas to the throne room. Either he would praise him, or kill him. I solemnly expected the latter.

Gunther led us to the castle, where soldiers opened the doors for us. I had never entered the castle this way, but seeing the inside sent chills of familiarity down my spine. Hesitance tempted me, but nevertheless, I stepped inside the castle again.

"Welcome home Lady Corrin, Silas."

"Thank you, sir," Silas said quickly.

"What befell the rest of the dispatch?"

"Slaughtered by the Hoshidans. I had to sneak inside."

"Figures. They were not the sharpest men in our order."

"They fought valiantly for Nohr. That is all that matters. We should send letter with a courier to their families tonight."

Gunther nodded. He held his hands behind his back, but with a scabbard slung at his side, and a scar etched into his forehead, he looked no less intimidating. Captain of the Royal Guard, he had become strict, especially toward myself and my siblings.

We walked through the castle chamber down to the Great Hall, where the doors to the throne room resided. At these doors, Xander waited patiently, among some armed soldiers. His sunken face remained stoic, even as I looked at him.

"Xander," I called as we approached.

"Welcome home, sister," he replied, emotionless.

The doors to the throne room opened. King Garon sat in the throne, looking just as threatening as ever. Only the four of us: Gunther, Silas, Xander, and myself were permitted to enter. The doors shuddered closed behind us, and I shivered yet again.

"Corrin," he grumbled. Even quiet, the king's voice was the loudest in Nohr.

"Father."

He straightened, leaning forward in curiosity. "Do you know why the Hoshidans took you?"

I shook my head. A lie would be fine. "I'm not certain. The Nohrian soldiers attacked before I came to. When I saw Silas, we left as soon as possible."

Silas nodded in stern agreement.

"Then you," he turned to Silas, "You parade her through the streets, going directly against my order?"

Silas's composure startled me - he did not move a muscle.

"Father," I interrupted, "I asked it of him. I am of no use to the Nohrian cause if it stay behind these walls. I must fight!"

"Lieutenant, you are hereby expelled from the royal order."

My heart dropped.

"Father! He is a noble soldier, and of no doubt of use to our army. He protected me from the Hoshidans, as well as a horde of bandits on our -"

"I cannot have a man who defies my order on my guard."

"You cannot do this! He is invaluable!" I whipped around to Xander, who stood tall and firm. "Xander!"

He shook his head. "I have no say in the matter."

The king resolved. "Silence, Corrin. You are to return to your quarters at once."

I huffed a breath, glaring. It was Silas's dream to be a knight, and that was being stripped of him so easily. Nothing more was said of the matter - I knew I could not sway the king.

I turned around to exit the room, with loud, clanking steps.

* * *

"It has been a long day, milady. The chamomile will soothe your nerves."

Flora handed me a cup of piping hot tea, something I had been dreaming of ever since I left the castle. I breathed as I sipped, the tea developing a richer flavor in my mouth. It was perfect.

We had come from the bath house. I felt fresh, clean, with a towel slung over my shoulders and a robe around my body.

"I wanted to get you recognition today," Flora said. "I don't want you to be like me."

"What do you mean?" I asked between sips. She gathered the tea set up.

"King Garon abducted my sister and I from the Ice Tribe to keep us as hostages. If they ever wished to rebel against Nohr, we would be killed. He keeps us hidden from the public eye, too."

"Sounds exactly like me."

"Hm?" Flora murmured.

"Supposedly I was taken from Hoshido as an infant," I explained. "A hostage, too. Perhaps for the same reason."

Flora shook her head. "King Garon wants war with Hoshido."

"Or perhaps not. Perhaps he isn't ready for war, and that is why I am of such value to him. Why else would he dispatch soldiers to come find me? Otherwise, he would have immediately declared war."

"It is plausible, milady. Do you believe you're of Hoshidan descent?"

"Yes," I whispered. She smiled sadly, pushing my hair back behind my ear.

"Then return to your homeland."

* * *

A/N: I feel like my writing productivity spikes when I have eggnog in my life... I completely quit writing over this summer, but I'm now realizing how much I used to love it. That, and Fire Emblem.


	6. Warning Xander

The door clicked shut, and the silence that settled was almost uncanny. A whisper of dust blew on the floor around Jakob's shoes. I sat on my bed, feet barely suspended off the ground.

"Thank the gods," I breathed, settling myself down into the cozy sheets. These linens, freshly groomed, smelled of lavender. I breathed it in and wished that in exhaling, all the stress of the past few days could leave me instantly. I tried to blow it all away, but all which came was a hefty sigh.

Finally, my sisters, as well as many other castle goers, had left me alone.

"Are you alright, Milady?" Jakob asked, setting down a platter. It clanked on the tabletop. Lifting a steaming kettle from the platter with utmost caution, he poured a cup of rose-colored tea. A puff of steam billowed up in the air, and I could smell the herbal scent of the tea. I propped myself up.

"Too many people have asked me already, Jakob," I said, almost angry. "I'm fine. Especially with some peace and quiet."

"Certainly, lady Corrin. It has been quite a commotion around here."

He handed me the cup of tea, and I took it, careful not to spill on either myself or my fresh sheets. The steam in my face was refreshing and calming.

I chided, smirking, "Hardly for you, though; you've had no one to follow around."

"Oh, well, of course I made myself useful."

There was a smile in his voice. Dishes clanked as he moved about his trays.

"You weren't worried, were you?" I wondered, sipping. The tea burned my tongue, and I winced slightly. Not enough for Jakob to notice, however.

"No, I wasn't. You're quite capable, I would say. Plus, no one would dare lay a finger on princess Corrin of Nohr."

I tasted lemongrass and hibiscus. Hardly anyone knew of me, even as Silas had paraded me through the front gates.

"I suppose. The Hoshidans, though," I mumbled waywardly, "they don't believe that."

I silently wondered about Silas. He had almost seemed pleased about being expelled from the royal order, and I couldn't tell if that was just in satisfaction that he would not longer have to serve an awful king, or if it was because he completed his duty nonetheless.

"Pardon, milady?"

I shrugged. "They protect their kin, and only their kin. At least, that was what I gathered."

"They are traditional, for certain. Less civilization."

"No, they are civilized. But proud. Very prideful."

Jakob accepted my response and scooped up the dishes around the room. He then told me he would just be a moment and dashed out of the room to clean said platter.

I placed my tea on the bedside table for a moment as I got up and went to the closet. I quickly tore off my clothes while Jakob was out and slipped into a few nighttime garments. I wore a night gown with gorgeous ribbons that looped around me and tied into a bow at the front. I tossed my head upside down and fastened my hair into a tail at the back of my head. I slipped on cotton boots - the floor was much too cold for comfort.

As I viewed my reflection in the mirror, I could not help but critique what I saw. I saw a short, muscular woman. My hips tugged at the fabric of my gown on either side. My shoulders were small and bony, never seeming to fill the space in my clothes. And my hair—dark, unnatural.

I knew I could not be like my sisters-Nohrian women commanded attention by their mere stature. Camilla beckoned every eye in the room by her tall, lean legs and her full chest. Her collarbone stretched beautifully across her wide shoulders, a canvas dying for a dress to be placed upon. And Elise grew quickly-her height nearly matched my own.

I could not be my mother's child.

Jakob returned to the room and came up behind me, fixing my hair for me, smoothing it all back into the tail.

"Ready for bed?" he asked.

"No," I admitted, still enticed by the flaws in the mirror. "Have you seen Leo?" I wondered.

"I did briefly. He was acting frantic, ran out like a madman when you arrived. "

"Strange," I mumbled. That was a disappointment. I had wanted to see him since I returned to the castle. For whatever reason, Leo's brutal honesty I appreciated, and I always went to him when I needed help.

"He may have returned since this afternoon."

I nodded. I hoped as such.

"Jakob," I said. "Have you ever heard anything about an abducted princess? A long time ago?"

I don't know why I needed confirmation. Maybe I was looking for any fact that could lead my thoughts back to me being of Nohrian heritage. I did not want to be Hoshidan.

Jakob admitted, "When I was young, yes, there was a rumor which circulated about a missing Hoshidan princess. Quite a fuss, when royalty goes missing. However, no one knows if it was true or not; the girl was so young, she had never been seen in public, nor had the queen been visibly pregnant."

"I see."

So there had been a missing princess. I did not know why, but I still felt unsure.

"Do you mind if I go speak with Leo?"

"I'm of no status to deny you, milady. Do you require an escort?"

I smiled at him and walked over to where I had left my tea. "That is not necessary, thank you."

"Lady Corrin, you'll trip," Jakob criticized as he ran to me, knelt, and began tying my slippers. I had completely forgotten to tie them.

"I'm not Felicia, Jakob. I can make it across a corridor without tripping."

"Even so," he murmured, finishing the knots. "There you are."

"Thank you," I whispered before bringing myself to the doorway where I hesitated momentarily. I took a deep breath and pushed open the familiar door.

I began propping the door open and stepping into the dark hallway. The air pricked goosebumps on my skin, and I felt the coolness of the stone beneath my slippers. Drafts circulated the area, the ceilings being so high, and tapestries swayed overhead. The door shut resoundingly.

I shuffled down the way, trailing my hand across the wall with my fingers wedged in the creases in the stone. The sharp stone edges portrayed the imperfect artistry in the build of the castle interior. Even being a Nohrian castle, nothing was perfect.

Arriving at Leo's room, I rapped gently on the door with my knuckles and then pulled the door ajar. Swift air flooded at me until I had closed myself inside; he left his window open. I called his name out softly, but got no response. The sheets hugged the mattress like a glove and the pillows decoratively sat how Felicia always staged them. The room was silent, save for the whistling wind outside.

I nudged the window curtains aside, greeted by the cool light of a near-full moon. On the horizon, housetops speared the night sky with their steeples. Those were the noble people's homes, as tall and as grand as could be. I noticed a few dim, fiery lights within them, most likely their children lighting torches after bedtime, or scholars studying deep into the night. The moon's light shone over those homes and the castle courtyard, and it drafted shadows across the road. The dragon statue in particular cast the most long, eerie shadow, engulfing most of the pathway. The gardens surrounding it, however, shimmered in the damp light.

I sipped my tea. It had cooled considerably. The wind suddenly raked my hair and robes back until the door shut again.

"Pardon? Lady Corrin? You're up at this hour?"

Felicia's voice was very distinct; something childlike in it made her impossibly discernible. I turned to her, letting down the curtain. She held a candle, which she used to ignite another upon the wall. She yawned widely as she set down the flame. Something wet dripped to the floor, most likely wax. She bent to clean it.

"I'm looking for Leo." I said.

"I'm afraid he left the castle an hour or so ago," she yawned. "I'm sorry, Lady Corrin."

I pursed my lips. "Do you know why?"

She cocked her head back and forth, smoothing her hair behind her ear. She said, unsure, "He was flustered, muttering something about a woman. Packed a bag in a hurry and stormed off. Perhaps he has stumbled on an eligible bachelorette suiting his tastes?"

"Leo? With a woman?" I scoffed. She smiled.

"He's an adult, Milady! Give him some room."

I rolled my eyes. "Sometimes I think _you_ have affections for him," I admitted.

"Oh, I do. It's more of a mother-son bond, though."

"You're hardly older than him."

"So I pretend," she sighed, wiping up the wax with a handkerchief. "Are you going to be able to sleep tonight, milady? I know it's been rough."

"I don't know."

"Well if you're feeling insomnia, Lord Xander is as well. He's up on the roof if you would like to chat. And, take a light."

I traded her my tea for a candle.

"Thank you, Felicia, I..."

"Hm?" she wondered.

When she handed me the candle, I had been looking in the mirror, and once it lit up my features I felt the same self consciousness I had felt in my room.

I raised the candle up to my forehead. My irises glowed in the light, slightly reddish in color. And my eyelashes, thick and dark, were nothing like my siblings'.

"Felicia, I don't look like any of them," I breathed.

She gave me an odd look. I knew she did not understand what I meant.

"Pardon, Lady Corrin?"

"What did my mother look like?"

Felicia had told me time and time again what she looked like, but she always remained enthusiastic about the explanation, no matter how many times.

"Oh, she was the fairest! Gorgeous white hair, stunning blue eyes, and posture of a goddess. I only served her for a few short weeks, unfortunately, before her passing."

It was an impossibility she was my mother. I had not a single Nohrian trait throughout my body. I was completely, utterly Hoishidan. As a princess of the Hoshidan nation should be.

"I'm going to see Xander."

Felicia nodded.

"I hope you are alright, Lady Corrin."

I hoped so to. I took one more look over myself in the dim light before leaving Felicia be in Leo's room. I heard the window clasp shut behind me and the door bang shut after. I was left again in the empty corridors.

Swiftly, yet solemnly, I jogged up to the roof, taking the nearby circular stairwells as my passage. I huffed breaths as I reached the roof, being that I had pushed up the stairs so quickly, but when I arrived, I saw no one.

"Xander?" I called, searching. The air was cold up here, and it nipped my skin beneath the bedclothes.

"Xander," I yelled once more. This time, a thick breeze blew by me, taking the candle flame with it, spilling a few droplets of wax on my clothes.

"Corrin," I heard his voice behind me. I whipped around, careful not to spill the wax this time. I set the candle down on the ground around us.

"Xander, you're here."

"What did you think you were doing, dear sister? Why did you go with those Hoshidan scum?"

I lowered my gaze.

"Xander, they took me. I could not fight them."

"Please, the very night Father denied you? You expect me to believe that?"

I stood still for a moment, processing. It made me angry, the way he criticized me for leaving.

"Fine. So I did leave of my own accord. Can you give me one reason for me to have stayed?"

"Your father commanded it of you."

"Like I would listen to him. He's not my father."

All of the sudden, Xander no longer seemed angry. His face betrayed bewilderment.

"What?" he spoke.

"You knew," I accused him. "I know you knew. You were 10 years old, how would you not have known that a new sister had appeared out of thin air? One that looks nothing like you. You can't tell me you didn't know."

"You were born of a surrogate-"

"Like hell I was."

I fumed, my chest heaved and I bore my stare into Xander's eyes. He remained quiet, stern. I jutted my bottom jaw forward uncomfortably, distracting myself from the overwhelming need to yell.

"I apologize for not telling you. Mother had difficulties bearing her third child; she had a surrogate."

"You're a coward, Xander, hiding behind Father," I spat, livid. "You know he is wrong. And you would lie for him?"

"I don't hide behind anyone, Corrin. My decisions are for the good of Nohr."

"Keeping me from my true family was the greater good, huh?" I hissed. "Keeping me from anyone? I spent my whole life wasting away. What if I wanted to have friends and experiences?

Xander stood still, unfazed by my accusations. And it was in this lack of emotion that I knew he lied to me. Had he told me truth, I would have found much more compassion from him. Tears had begun to form in my eyes, and their presence stung.

"That obviously didn't matter to you," I cried.

"Corrin, stop. This is enough."

"Apologize to me," I demanded. "Apologize for what you did to me!"

"I'm sorry you don't understand my decisions."

Insulting, yes. But it was even more crushing than that. He watched me hurt and struggle for years to gain my freedom. He could have freed me at any point, but he didn't because he was a slave to King Garon. My heart broke. I didn't have a family anymore. These were sick people.

While I hated Xander, I also hated myself for not noticing it sooner. I never paid heed to my appearance. I was never the epicenter of attraction as my siblings were. I never experienced anything. I hated it. I hated it.

"Corrin, what is that?" he pressed, reaching back to a blade on the training racks.

I felt it this time. My emotions had caused the monster to reemerge from within me. The skin across my face stretched like tanned leather; next, my forehead creased and my nose jutted forward. Sickening teeth protruded from my lips. My fingertips grew black and my nails became claws.

This transformation, being much steadier than the last time, had enabled me to keep my consciousness, but I still felt woozy.

"You are not my brother," I said, distorted.

"What manner of necromancy have you been involved in?" he hissed.

I bit down hard, willing the monster to recede. I know it was the king's trickery that caused him to be this way. I would not harm him, as much as I longed to.

"A simple apology was all I asked. Now you've made an enemy of me."

"Corrin,: he breathed. "Just... just calm down. Think rationally."

"Maybe I could've if you were the one to tell me the truth. But now I'm done with your rules."

Slowly my body returned to normal. The skin on my face loosened and softened. My teeth retracted. My spine straightened. But the process took its toll on my body—I felt weak. I clutched my gown around me.

"I'm leaving," I panted. "If you see father, tell him he is a bastard king."

And I left Xander as he clung to the sword rack, afraid.


	7. To Kill One of Your Own

I had never been one for reading. It had been forced upon me as a child. I always read stories about wars, affairs and heartbreak. But now I knew why; they had been trying to make me scared of the world.

I circled around the musty library, searching for any book on metamorphosis I could find. I picked up a few novels, none of which I was willing to scour for the information. I currently leafed through the dusty pages of lore from the times of the ancient kingdom. The pages smelled of age.

se ætgár; draca

My old English was broken at best, but I could scrape together various meanings over the page. The tale told of the Dawn and Dusk Dragons who bestowed their power upon weaponry so that the humans could end the Great War. I recognized Nohr as the capital of the Dusk Dragon on a map, and I figured the Dawn, stationed far away, had to be centered in Hoshido.

I knew this tale from when I was young. The dragons allowed the Great War to end and peace to preside over the land for centuries. Any conflict that grew too large could be quenched by the power of these legendary weapons. They were enchanted, enriched.

I closed the cover of the old book. I rubbed my eyes, tired from reading, and threw the novel into a pile with several others. I wasn't sure what I as trying to achieve. Answers would not come easy here.

The entire library was silent beside myself, sitting alone at a desk. I scattered parchment around before I began my search, but I failed to write any information of use. I had written little scribbles here and there, but nothing stood out to me. I didn't know what to look for.

Then, through the silence, footsteps sounded in the hall, nearing close. I recognized the clop of those shoes.

"Milady, are you here?"

I straightened myself in my chair and took a breath.

"Yes, Jakob, I'm here," I called.

He rounded the corner. He looked professional as always in his suit and dress and whatnot. With his hand holding the middle of his vest, he kept a countenance of prestige, even though he was a servant.

"Good. You've been ordered to be relocated."

I paused. I furrowed my brow and looked onto him with skepticism.

"Pardon me? What's happening?"

"A fort to the west has fallen," he explained calmly. "Perhaps attacked by Hoshidans. Some troops are being sent to investigate. In the meantime, all royalty has been issued to evacuate."

I pressed my lips together. For whatever reason, I didn't want to believe the Hoshidans were attacking. I still wanted to protect Nohr.

"Send me with those troops then."

But then, Hinoka could be attacking to give me a chance to return. My brow furrowed in thought, when I saw Jakob, I was confused. I had never seen him so flabbergasted. His mouth hung open, and though his hair rested in his face, he failed to move it.

"Milady, that's simply unwise, and the commander would never allow it."

I pursed my lips. I pressed my palms down on the table and pushed myself up.

"Is that right? Why don't we ask Xander himself?"

"He wouldn't allow it, milady."

I stepped over to the butler and waltzed passed him, slowly down the hall. He turned to follow me. I raised my voice so he could hear behind me.

"Then it's a good thing I have a leg up on him, isn't it?" I explained.

"Even so," he pressed. "Why would you want to enter a combat zone? I understand you are trained, but-"

Jakob would never understand, so I couldn't tell him. I couldn't let on that I had an edge other than my identity-the metamorphosis. He knew the Hoshidans wanted me, but he didn't know why. I couldn't tell him I had an immunity to physical pressure.

When I thought about my morphed state, I felt a fuzzy feeling in my chest. Warm, like the sensation of slight drunkenness after a light liqueur. I rubbed my chest as I walked. Jakob kept close behind. I took a deep breath. I still did not believe the dragon was entirely real, but it gave me confidence unlike any I had ever experienced.

"Because I'm completely safe. The Hoshidans want me, and they would never kill me. I can get a lot more done than mere soldiers."

Jakob stifled a rough response. He wanted me safe, and I knew that well. He did not want me to return to the Hoshidan presence.

We traversed the halls of the castle wing. Here, the palace was crafted of marble, with columns of an elegant design supporting the pathways. Grand openings allowed windows to cast a view of the gardens below. I knew these halls well; they were one of only parts of the castle I had been allowed to roam free as a child. We kept on until we reached the main castle chamber where, as expected, my Nohrian siblings stood with their servants. Camilla stood back, away from Xander and Elise. She was dressed in casual attire, but Elise was dressed in thick leathers with parcels slung around her waist. Xander helped her situate the packs on her belt.

"Woah, woah," I objected. "Elise isn't going out there."

Xander turned away from me. Camilla gave me a look of agreement.

"She is a great healer. And there are many wounded," he suggested.

"Then take me as well," I insisted. "I can help with the effort to retake the fort."

"Corrin, we will station you at another fort."

I pouted and rolled my eyes.

"Xander, I'm going. I'm not going to ask you again."

Camilla buffeted. She could not believe my directness. "Corrin!"

Xander waved Camilla down.

"Camilla, let it be if she is so adamant. Get your Ganglairi, Corrin."

I nodded, tapping my sword at my waist. "I have it. Where's Leo?"

"We haven't seen brother for days," Elise murmured, pain evident on her innocent face.

It wracked my mind. Leo had been gone for so many days. Even if he had fallen for a woman over the week, he would not have left for so long. I stiffened, raising my eyebrows and crossing my arms.

I pouted, "We could use him right now."

"Agreed," Xander mumbled. "We have search parties out now."

I shook my head. Search parties would never find him, especially if he didn't want to be found.

"Leo's a powerful sorcerer, if anyone had taken him captive, he would have to be subdued. No one's going to find him," I huffed. "It's a waste of resources."

"Try telling father."

"Maybe I will," I spat. I watched Camilla as she strolled over to me and grabbed me by the arm. She pulled me away from the others, speaking low, only to me.

"What are you thinking, sweet Corrin?"

I judged her. She would always fight for me, but gods forbid if I ever fought for myself.

I let out a huff. "I don't need you doing everything for me."

"Just because you've been outside the castle does not make you powerful, my dear."

I gave her a look of wonder. It mystified me that she thought so.

"Yes, it does. I, well, I experienced what they..." I trailed. "What they never wanted me to."

I knew she would not fully understand since she had not seen what happened back when those bandits had rallied around Silas and I. Unable to discern whether my hesitation to tell her came from fear of my imprisoned again or overall discernment, I quieted myself.

"Little Corrin, you're a princess. Your life is precious to the kingdom."

"Then why am I not allowed to fight for it?" I argued, and my own words left a sour taste in my mouth. "If it's my kingdom, let me stand by my brothers and sisters in the fight."

She smiled sadly but her expression told that she appreciated my comment.

"Very well, Corrin. I understand."

I stepped away from her, and I turned back to my siblings who were quickly readying themselves to run out the doors. I gave her a quick acknowledgment of her warning by nodding toward her. Once Elise had her satchel full of vulneraries and bandages, we proceeded out the main castle hallway. Servants carrying various clothes and fabrics dodged our path. As we stepped onto the plaza, I felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. Nostalgia, maybe?

The soldiers loaded cargo into wagons in a line, passing barrels and crates from person to person. These containers were loaded with various weapons, canteens, and bread. Servants carried linens and blankets to fill the bottom of the passenger wagons. When I entered, the plush surfaces were warm and inviting. I helped Elise in as well and she seated herself in the corner.

In some time, the army marched. Horses clopped. Several other healers were cramped into the space with us. The fleet rode on until the sun fell and on into the night. I played games with Elise to keep her entertained until she fell asleep.

When the soldiers stirred, I was prepared. I slept easy for the majority of the night, but in these early hours of the morning, before the sun woke, I found my sleep disturbed and broken. I was uncomfortable and sticky with sweat; anxiety set in. I needed to move, so as Elise and the others still slept, I escaped the wagon. Several soldiers stood watch and greeted me as I exited. I heard a few of the healers quietly wake inside.

The wagon remained on a hilltop overlooking the outpost. The fort had obviously sustained some damage, yet it still stood strong on the dark, blue-green grasslands. The midnight sky veiled the finer details of the fort in the distance. Towers, positioned away from the walls of the fort, settled around the area. Obviously, with them, we would easily be spotted if we descended the hilltop in the light.

"I don't know why you are threatening me, but it better be good."

The morning wind was cold and swept my hair over my shoulders. It was not this wind, but Xander's voice, that made me quiver.

"Xander," I confirmed.

He stepped up to my side. He had dressed in his great silver armor, much sooner than any troops scheduled to deploy. I doubt he had slept, though his eyes were rested and steady.

"What happened in Hoshido?" he wondered.

I was bewildered why he ever bothered asking the question.

"They told me the truth," I said. "And then they let me go to prevent the king from declaring war over me."

"Corrin. You're fam-"

"Stop denying it. It's pointless," I cautioned.

He paused briefly, looking down over the valley. When he spoke again, his voice had lost its regal composure, and instead, he spoke softly, confused.

"What happened to you?"

"Nothing," I spat. "Nothing happened, Xander."

I maneuvered away from him, back to the caravan, where everyone had now awoken due to the noise. They scurried about the field, gathering their supplies. I grabbed my sword and fastened its sheathe along my belt.

We waited as the sky grew ever-so-slightly lighter. The guard had assembled and they were ready to send in troops. I pushed myself to the front of the soldiers as they marched; I was eager to get to any Hoshidan soldiers and prevent their deaths. We reached the nearest tower quickly and many soldiers, including myself, pushed inside.

The stone structure, simple, with a large staircase spiraling up the tower, rattled with the noise of the soldiers. Beside them storming the stairs, I heard no sound.

"The tower is empty. Why?"

"They're somewhere else. Within the fort."

"Not even sharpshooters?"

I searched the walls and windows. Puzzled as they were, I could not understand the Hoshidan's rationale. Not a single soldier stationed here - what were they planning?

The soldiers flooded back out, and as I followed them, Xander caught me in the doorway with Elise by his side.

"I think Elise should stay back here until we find out where the wounded are being kept," I suggested. She nodded and squeezed past me, inside the tower.

"Great idea," Xander agreed. He whispered something to a soldier next to him and then proceeded to shove me inside of the tower. The soldier pressured me inside and closed the door, sealing it with many locks. I felt a zing of both regret and betrayal through my body.

"Let me through," I demanded.

The soldier stood firmly. I ran my hand through my hair. I didn't want to be like this. My angry confusion felt warm on my skin.

"You think you're being a benefit to your country by barricading yourself and another fighter in this room? I might be royalty, but I'm not useless."

The soldier ignored me. I felt a hotness in my chest, itching my ribs and lungs. My heart began pounding. I couldn't let them kill the Hoshidans - that was the entire reason I had come, to prevent this needless violence between sides. I thought I could be a mediator, but not in here.

Elise noticed my tension, but her smooth words of encouragement did not pique my attention at all. In fact, I didn't even hear what she had said to me. My eyes were fixated on the soldier. He kept his lips sealed, probably because he had been ordered to, and showed a sheen of sweat on his face. My gaze intimidated him.

Eyes steady, I rubbed my chest, breathing more frequently to lull the feeling away, but it was too hot. I became snappy and irate. I looked the soldier in the eyes, but he refused to meet mine. That only fueled the sensation... the craving. To let go. To let it take over.

Why was I so intent on hurting this man? It didn't matter because I let my focus lull for a moment, and the next thing I knew, my arm was outstretched, and the man crumpled.

Elise screamed. She pressed herself into the corner of the room, looking away from me and the soldier.

I rubbed my fingers together on my outstretched hand. They were wet with smooth liquid. The soldier who once stood at the doorway - his armor had ripped open, and gaping, bleeding wounds ran across his chest. He was ragged, unbreathing. I had painted the walls, and the droplets streamed down. The blood had dampened my clothes and dribbled on my face. My hand was not completely human. Instead, streaks of thick black and leathery skin coated my fingertips.

"Oh, no."

I moved my hair from out of my face, staining my hair and cheeks with his blood. I tried to breath easy, but breaths came hard and quick. My heart beat so intensely I felt it in my skin, through my fingertips and toes. My hands went to the door, and I ripped it open. Dim light from outside streamed into the room, as well as another soldier, armed with a spear. He looked afraid.

I shook my head and ignored the spear pointed at me.

"Don't make me kill you too," I said breathlessly as I pushed past him.

The heat in my chest hurt. My head was in dazed place, and I could not make sense of any of my surroundings. The sun. As I felt its light on me, it tingled my skin. It willed me to change. The dragon wanted to be free. It wanted me to transform and tear more people apart.

"My lady, are you alright?" the soldier pressed.

I waved my hand at him, recoiling away from the sun. This man was distorted in my vision, fuzzy, blurry. The world spun around us.

"Go, go away. I'll kill you too..." I breathed.

"Did he attack you?"

"I need to focus. I need to stop. Stop."

I pushed on the sides of my head, putting pressure on my temples. I pressed my eyes closed, and I could not tell that I was falling until my head hit the rocks. The sting of the blow traveled through my head and pulsated. Nausea surged through me. I heard the sounds of footsteps, loud.

"What's going on here?"

"She is delusional, lieutenant. I expect the man stationed there attacked her and Lady Elise."

"Is he stable?"

"I don't know, sir."

"Corrin," he sighed. "Get Lady Elise out of here. Go. And move that man back."

I felt a hand on the side of my face. I flinched and scrambled away, but he held me still. I looked, afraid, on at him. I didn't recognize him at first. The world was still spinning, changing my perspective on everything I looked at. I saw a man, tall, but kneeling by me. He was soft-spoken and tender.

"Hey, hey," he soothed, "it's okay."

I grabbed his hands to remove them from the sides of my head. My jaw hurt from clenching my teeth.

"Silas," I realized.

"You're volatile right now, I know. I'm not going to tell."

I searched his face for comfort. He looked on at me with his abating blue eyes. His face was etched with worry, and he held my dragon-skinned hand.

"Silas, I didn't mean to kill that man. I didn't mean to kill those bandits either, it just...happened."

"I know," he whispered. "Look, it's going to be okay. How do you feel right now?"

I smacked my lips and took a deep breath.

"Sensitive. Lights are bright. Voices are loud."

"Just take it easy," he said.

He took his hands away and went to a pack on his person. He removed a thick linen cloth and poured some water over it. When he went to wash my forehead of the still wet blood, I winced. He mumbled a soft reassurance to me.

"Thank you," I mumbled incoherently. The cold washcloth scratched my skin as he washed most of the blood off my face, out of my hair. We waited here for a while while I calmed down. The sun rose around us, and with every minute I felt a little better, more in control than I had been.

"Are there Hoshidan soldiers here?"

"They must be inside the fort. I haven't seen that princess, or any Hoshidans, anywhere. I thought she attacked to give us an opportunity."

"You're going with me?"

"She told me to escort you back, or she would cut me down herself. You heard that."

I smiled. That she had.

"Hinoka," I said. "That's her name."

"Whatever it is."

"You would really... Leave Nohr?"

He shrugged. "Escorting the lost princess back home has to be worthy or some honor in Hoshido, doesn't it?"

I recalled King Garon expelling Silas from the order.

"How are you here anyway?"

"Smuggled myself inside a caravan. It wasn't hard, especially as most of these men haven't been informed. Treasonous, I know."

A gave him a judgmental look. Technically, I should have already been wanted for treason.

A troop of soldiers approached us quickly from the direction of the fort. They were rattled and disheveled from running.

"Lieutenant, sir, there is no one here. The entire fort has been abandoned."

Silas and I locked eyes.

"We have to go, Silas," I said. "Now. You're not going to get another chance."

One of the men reached a hand out to Silas to help him to his feet. He, then, offered me his own hand to me.

"Pardon, sir. What is happening?"

"I'm in confidence, but do tell Gunther that I'm evacuating Lady Corrin."

"Yes, sir."

Silas took my hand and guided me away from the tower, up the hill to the party of caravans and supplies. We traversed quickly, as we knew once Gunther received the message, soldiers' efforts would be redirected at us. I panted when we arrived, and I searched around for anything to scavenge before Silas procured a horse.

There were soldiers in a group not far from us, and between them, princess Elise sat, traumatized, crying soundlessly. They gave her food and water. The side of her face had been smeared with blood. I couldn't believe that whatever I had done, the blow would have been enough to cover Elise in blood too. Worse, she saw me and instantly pointed an erratic finger in my direction.

"I'm leaving, Elise," I promised from afar, shaking my head. "I won't hurt you."

Silas grasped my hand, urging me away from her. He had secured a horse and we had to leave. I watched her stare. Her arms were wound around herself, lips ajar, shoulders forward. I knew that posture of hopelessness all too well.

What had I done? Murdered in front of the girl I had called my sister for my entire life. She was still in that blissful ignorance of believing in our bond as sisters. Maybe after today, after what I had done, she would be relieved to call me a stranger.

I buried my face in Silas's shoulder. On horseback, with Nohrian soldiers shouting, we fled.


	8. Castle Shirasagi

"I don't know who I am. I'm not a Nohrian, I'm wanted for treason and murder. I'm not a Hoshidan though either; I know nothing of the culture."

Silas hadn't responded to me much during my babbling on this ride. He quit talking a while back, but during that time I learned about his devotion to his mother and sister back in Nohr, and that he was actually three years my elder. I had been rambling on about my issues so that I would become more acquainted with them, able to speak about them without becoming upset. I'd been very upset for some time, and I was now coming to terms.

"That's a lie," I said. "I know a lot about Hoshidan culture. But I've never experienced it-how can I be a Hoshidan? Who is my mother? My father? My siblings seem to care for me, but would they now, knowing what I've done?"

Life is much more precious in Hoshido. To lose a soldier is a traumatic loss. In Nohr though, casualties are brushed off as an unavoidable consequence of daily life.

We had been riding swiftly, though Silas's horse tired easily now, and we had to make frequent stops at the various towns we found. The first town over the border was skeptical of us-a little town called Lieac, where the people rose their weapons at us. Fortunately, they had been told of the situation, and being that we matched that description perfectly, they had us for the night.

"Thank you, thank you," I said as they passed drinks around the bar for Silas and me.

"Toast to the lost princess of Hoshido, Miss Corrina!"

The innkeeper had a twinkle in his eye as he spoke, and his broad smile stretched across his face. His forehead wrinkled and the corners of his eyes creased. I had never seen someone so delighted at my presence. Everyone drank around us, so, unwilling to cause a stir, I drank as well. The malt liquor was surprisingly sweet on my tongue, and the alcohol didn't burn, unlike what I was expecting. Someone had mentioned to me malt would drunken a person like me quickly, so I drank with caution.

Silas seemed to very much enjoy the time we were having. I think something about the rowdiness of the guests reminded him of the comrades he had left behind, how it used to be when they used to crowd pubs along Nohr's boundary. Men sang and jumped on the tables. Women were here too, dancing and laughing, drinking alongside the men.

"Are you ready to give up Nohr, son?" a man who slung his arm around Silas asked. I blew a quick breath at the brusque comment, and it stung my sinuses.

"I suppose there's no going back," he replied quickly, but there was tension in his voice.

I rubbed my hot chest, and I was immediately grateful the Lieacans had given us Hoshidan clothing to change into as we had arrived. They were comfy and unrestricting. Someone had left our old clothes next to the hearth now, and a woman was stripping off Silas's armor and metals.

Silas hadn't noticed her; he had been chatting with locals about Nohrian army customs as he had met a few veterans of the Hoshidan army. The woman stole his attention away from the men as she approached him and put the metals out in front of him, on the bar.

She said, "Remember where you came from," almost threateningly.

And with that, they threw our clothes into the fire. Embers and shouts of patriotism filled the air. Silas was obviously rattled-I think I saw his eyebrow twitch.

The night died down as I grew tired. At one point, the innkeeper noted my weariness and announced it to the crowd, saying to the working women to prepare a bed. They rushed up the stairs. When the room was ready, I followed them up, and the men motioned for Silas to come too. They told him they were going to create him new suit of armor using the scraps of his Nohrian metal. He was thankful yet clearly abashed.

I expected to see two beds prepared for us that night, but there was only one large bed made. It was clean but only a foot or so off the floor.

"They believe you're my lover," I said plainly. "That's why they're so accepting of you."

Silas was dazed for three reasons: the metals in his hands that reminded him of his time in Nohr; the alcohol that put a fog over his thoughts; and me, the girl who had let him get into this mess.

"I've slept on the floor many times before," he reminded, "I-"

"No, no, no. You can be on the bed too."

"What?"

"Hoshidan obviously don't have the same stigmas as Nohrians. If they believe that we slept together, so be it, that would not change their perspective either way."

Both Silas and I had grown up in a very strictly celibate society. Only soldiers and common folk consumed alcohol. Anything else, from drug use to holding hands, was frowned upon in public. Here in Hoshido though it was ritual and customary to smoke, drink, and have sex.

So after some of my bickering and a clear order, Silas and I stayed in the same bed overnight. It took some time for us to sleep being that I was still tormented by what I had done, and Silas was also troubled. In the morning, he was groggy and unkempt, with his hair flying in every direction, and when I asked him what was the problem was, he only muttered something under his breath about his duty as a soldier. I rather liked sleepy Silas. He was yawning, scattered, and nearly fell back asleep.

The people did not treat us any different when we emerged from the room together, as I expected. They had the armor ready for Silas, which was an alloy based upon the metal of his previous armor. They had melted down the steel and infused it with-chromium? I wasn't knowledgeable when it came to smelting, but they said it was much harder than regular steel, but the plates were thinner than his previous armor. They said they reduced the weight to increase mobility. Silas was grateful to them. They instructed us to continue east to the capital. The royal troops had fallen back several days ago.

We left the town after they had given us supplies for the road, and as we left, I asked Silas:

"Have you ever killed a Hoshidan?"

He smirked. "Thankfully, my unit operated in the bandit department. Perhaps some of them were Hoshidans, but they were pillagers, not soldiers."

We rode across the country with Silas's horse. Rested and well fed, she ran hard in the direction of the Hoshidan capital, Shirasagi. They had told us if we rode swift, we would arrive by sundown. They were fortifying the town as we left for attack from Hoshidans.

We rode for several hours. My thighs and back hurt from riding. But then a caravan stole away my attention from the pain. A convoy of Hoshidan soldiers traveled across the countryside, and they encouraged us as we rode past. They knew who we were, shouting my name in the air. Lieac must have sent a messenger to Shirasagi in the night. These were reinforcements.

The sun rotated in the sky, and the scenery grew ever breath-taking. Glorious mountains were blanketed in flourishing greenery. Fruit trees surrounded us, and the cloudless sky misted on us, thanks to the giant warm lakes in the area. It was colorful and lively until the sun went down. The sun blazed on the horizon. It sparkled on the water, lit the fields of grain on fire. Everything became red.

"Corrin," Silas called. "Smoke."

There it was. I saw several streams of smoke over this hill. We pressed forward, and up a mountain not far was castle Shirasagi. The grand mountaintop palace screamed of royalty, and the many villages littered around the bottom told me exactly what this place meant to the people.

Something I did know about Hoshido was their celebrations. A textbook phenomenon, the heart of Hoshido blossomed in smoke at each of the four quadrants around the mountain. Tendrils of gray rose into the clear sky. I reassured Silas, this was a happy time for the people.

My jaw hung open the entire time we spent entering the capital. Unlike Nohr, this place wasn't orderly. Plants were allowed to blossom anywhere, pathways were strewn about the rocks, and mosses coated the structures. There was one clear path paved with stone up to the peak, and upon traversing it, the townspeople took notice. There were voices and whispers and questions. Perhaps the people weren't aware of our arrival like the soldiers were.

The palace was massive, stretching high into the low-hanging clouds. Soldiers waited out front, guarding the passage inside. Silas called out that he had with him Princess Corrin, and they instructed us to dismount and follow.

I was nervous to have an audience with the royal family even though I had already met Hinoka. I knew nothing of what type of people Ryoma and Takumi were, though I'd heard of their prestige; however, I got to meet neither of the princes and instead, Hinoka found us. She was surprisingly bubbly.

"Corrin! You arrived! Come, come! You may leave us now," she said to the soldiers, who left immediately after her command. "You too, what's your name? It doesn't matter, you're allowed in the castle."

So she was accepting of Silas. I expected she wasn't against him in the first place, considering she let him take me back to Nohr. The true test was whether my other Hoshidan siblings would be so kind.

Hinoka escorted us around the castle and lead us to a very large guest-style chamber. Food and drink had already been prepared-they were awaiting our arrival. She left us to be for a while, wanting to alert the castle and the other royals to begin the celebration. The room, with a balcony lining the eastern side and flying buttresses tapering the walls, was of opulent creation.

I looked over the table. There were delicate, ornamental vases and glasses, each containing liquid. Pottery had been set out as a serving dishes, and I noticed wormwood spriggs garnishing the tabletop.

"This plant is unique to Nohr, why is it here?"

Silas chuckled, pointing to the dishes.

"That's because it's extremely expensive here. It's absinthe. Stuff you and I would recognize."

The alcohol that was known to cause an obsession with dark magic and death? No, thank you.

Silas pursed his lips. "I know what you're thinking, it's not like that. I've had back in Nohr, not bad."

He grabbed the vase and poured a small glass of the liquid. It was fragrant and tinged yellow.

"You've probably never had anything like this, right?"

I nodded briefly.

"Do you want to try it?"

Of course, I wanted to try it. I was wanting to do everything I had never done before. I didn't want to be a proper princess like I had been raised as.

He handed me the cup as he poured another for himself, a little more full than the last.

"Open your throat, I don't want you spitting all over me."

I rolled my eyes. I was being so unladylike. And him so ungentlemanly.

He sipped his drink.

"It's strong. Something lemon."

I didn't understand what that meant. I smelled the liquor, and unlike the anise taste I had known about, it smelled nothing of the sort. I couldn't place it. No lemon.

Open throat.

I mustered up my will and took a drink from the glass. I only took half of what Silas had given me, but it was enough it to make me grimace. I swallowed nevertheless.

"Uck," I groaned.

"Um, open throat, remember? Don't let it sit in your mouth."

I tasted what he had been talking about. Anise and fennel and lemon in the worst way. Like a tea steeped too long that burned your mouth.

"You're drinking the best of the best, so if you don't like it, you're doomed. But there's wine here too, maybe that's more your liking?"

The warmth in my chest had begun much sooner than it had last night, but Silas worked me through the various liquors, careful not to give me too much. I feared that was a lost cause though, since the small amounts I had were enough to make me feel it.

"Silas," I said through a period of silence between us. "Do you not think about how I killed one of your men?"

He chewed his lip, obviously torn by the situation.

"He wasn't one of mine, nor did I know him. _You_ didn't kill him, it was the - "

"The dragon did? I'm the dragon, Silas."

"You would never have killed if it wasn't for the dragon," he said. "And I think we can find answers here in Hoshido."

Silas encouraged me tonight was a night the Hoshidans were celebrating my return and I should grieve in the morning. I poured myself another drink, hoping that its effects would direct my thoughts elsewhere. It helped, and Silas's shy smile was enough to put my emotions in a better place.

Later, Silas gave me the privacy to change into the party dress I had been given. There were flowers tucked into the fabric. I put some of them in my hair too.

"You look like you belong in that," Silas said.

I hadn't noticed when he entered the room, but I had been dancing in the mirror for a while now, so I doubt he had been there long. A few petals flew off of me as I turned.

My heart skipped a beat.

Silas, on the other hand, was a very Nohrian-looking citizen. Hair so light it looked white and a complexion to match, they donned him in a darker hide cloth, something which made a drastic difference from the tanned fur he wore earlier. That, and I had only seen him in his silver uniform before. These dark colors made his crystalline green eyes sparkle.

There was no knock on the door, but voices in the hallway told us they were coming. I recognized Hinoka, who was immediately followed by a smaller woman who looked similar to her.

"Sakura, this is Corrin," Hinoka called.

"Our sister," the girl, Sakura, chimed. She looked young and sweet.

"I thought she looked a hell a lot like Takumi, don't you think?"

"She resembles you too, Hinoka."

I turned to the mirror, and Hinoka stepped up beside me. Beside my darker brunette hair, I did look like her. More rounded features, but our eyes were undeniably the same.

"Will I meet Takumi?" I wondered.

"Of course! And Ryoma, oh he's so excited! Takumi's being a brat, thinks you're a spy, but he'll know for sure we're sisters!

"And you," Hinoka turned to Silas sharp, yet happy. "The first Nohrian soldier to turn over to Hoshido, and you kept your word. Ryoma has decided to make you Corrin's royal retainer if you'll accept the offer tonight."

Silas was taken aback, as was I. Sobering up wasn't a good way to put it, but I definitely felt the full impact of that declaration. I was elated they accepted him so well.

If I ever thought that Nohrian celebrations were grand, Hoshidan celebrations destroyed that idea. Nobility and common folk alike wore jewels and feathers and flowers, and they danced together to the beat of the drums. Instruments of every style and sound played aloud and escaped to each corner of the pavilion. Fire and magic lit up the room, and the open walls let the purple sunset radiate off the dancers. Everyone chanted, yelled, and sang.

Despite this brouhaha, I knew Ryoma and Takumi when I saw them. Ryoma was dressed in the most regal attire of them all, and looked like something out of the books I had read on Hoshidan culture. Takumi obviously wasn't as keen to participate as he wore armor and a natural outfit. But their presence screamed of authority, and those around them showered them in praise. I was amazed that even the high prince of the land was allowed to walk among the commoners.

"Is that... Corrin?"

I smiled and nodded, walking forward. So these were my brothers.

"Lord Ryoma, and Lord Takumi," I said. "I've heard much about you."

Takumi's face lit up with recognition, and his gaze bounced between mine and Ryoma's. The skeptical face he had put on vanished quickly.

"How did no one realize you were a Hoshidan?" Takumi said with disbelief. "You're pale, but..."

"Takumi, don't try to upset her so, our sister is here now."

Ryoma's voice was deep and commanding, yet warm. Just like Xander's.

"And Silas, was it? Our sister Hinoka told me of your deeds," Ryoma mentioned.

Silas was abashed and honored that Ryoma spoke to him, and he dropped to a knee. The prince scoffed and ordered him back to his feet, explaining that his tasks to my aid indebted him greatly and that he deserved the respect of a high-ranking official.

"Thank you, Lord Ryoma," Silas said.

"I will ask you now, since we are speaking, would you accept partaking in princess Corrin's affinity, as her loyal retainer?"

"Pardon me, my Lord," Silas apologized, "my thoughts are dizzy at the moment, may I have a night to gather myself?"

Ryoma, pleased, nodded. "Of course. We are in no hurry tonight. Tonight, we celebrate!"

We danced. I laughed. I had a good time with my siblings. Hinoka wouldn't leave my side, nor would Silas, and we learned several Hoshidan dances. The night was long and blurry. When we returned to the guest chambers, Silas and I left alone, exhausted by the night. Still I wondered about Silas's refusal to answer Ryoma. He had asked for more time, and Ryoma had granted his request. Why did he need time? He would be honored for his service to me, loved in Hoshido for his efforts for my safety, and respected in Nohr for the same reason.

Silas and I stared out into the night, resting ourselves on the balcony. Owls bickered somewhere in the trees. He knew what I was wondering.

"Corrin. I don't know if I can be your retainer," Silas said, breaking our silence.

I didn't respond. He continued:

"I mean, I've already committed suicide, so I suppose it doesn't make that much difference."

"What?"

"I'm a criminal in Nohr. If I protect you, they would not have mercy on me."

"You wouldn't be in that position, Silas."

"You think you'll see High Prince Xander again? You don't think he would snap my neck?"

That might be true. Xander would likely kill Silas as per Garon's orders.

"Xander would never try and hurt me. You wouldn't be in that position."

"I'm reckless," he confessed. "I'll be reckless."

"Then I'll save you."

"They would find a way to subdue you. Princess Elise, she saw what you can do... I can't properly protect you against your foes."

"So you want me to stay out of the conflict when I'm the source of the conflict? I have to be involved, make things right."

"Corrin," he breathed.

"Silas," I nagged.

I felt a strange feeling in my chest. Not the alcohol, but something I had felt before. It stirred inside. I knew what this feeling was - the dragon, the monster, willing its way out. Why?

Partly to distract myself and partly to urge Silas, I pushed up onto my toes and pecked him on the cheek.

"Say yes, okay? You'll fight with me anyway, won't you?"

His cheeks flushed.

"Okay," he said.

I was satisfied but unnerved by the sensations within me. I wanted to sleep it off, forget that they existed.

"Now, do I have to you order you to come to bed with me again?"

He sighed.

"No, milady."

 _End Chapter_

 _Author Note:_ Ugh, I'm sorry I'm so bad about uploading, I have drabbles for this story that are years old. I love this one... Its just... slow right now. Lol. Thanks everyone who follows/favorites/reviews! It means a lot!


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